Coming up short 45-15 to the Greenwood Bulldogs (4-0), the Greenville High School Hornets (2-2), showed signs of their offensive brilliance but couldn’t capitalize on their opportunities Friday night.
“We left a lot out there on the field,” said Hornets head coach Quintarius McCray. “We also need to play with more toughness because when you put on this black and gold, you have to bring it and play with heart.”
The Hornets turned the ball over early and suffered from a lack of balance on offense and found themselves down 21-0 by the end the first quarter.
The Hornets’ offense started clicking late in the first quarter as senior running back Aaron Coats ripped off a 15-yard run that inspired his teammates. On the next play senior quarterback Ty’mitchell McCollough threw an 18-yard pass to senior receiver Rufino Griffin who made like a ballet dancer as he scraped the sideline with his feet to stay inbounds. Two plays later, McCollough dumped a screen pass to Coates who broke tackles and ran up the home sideline on his way to a diving 29-yard touchdown.
McCollough hit Coates again on an over the shoulder throw and catch for a two-point conversion that pulled the Hornets to a 21-8 deficit with 11:09 remaining in the second quarter.
The Bulldogs reciprocated on their next drive going 50 yards in three plays for another score. The extra point was blocked, and the Bulldogs led 27-8 with 9:13 left in the second quarter.
Another turnover followed by poor tackling set up another Bulldogs touchdown on the Hornets side of midfield. The extra point failed, and Greenwood led 33-8 with 6:56 remaining in the second quarter. The Hornets narrowly escaped a Bulldog scoring drive as the they went the length of the field before Tyiuan Parker recovered a fumble at Hornets 10-yard line. The score was 33-8 at the half.
On the Hornets’ first play from scrimmage in the second half, McCollough threw a high lateral pass that skidded through Coates’ hands. A Bulldog defender scooped the ball up and scampered for a 52-yard touchdown. The extra point failed, and Greenwood led 39-8 with 11:22 remaining in the game. Greenwood added one more final-quarter touchdown to move out to a 45-8 lead.
McCollough threw a late touchdown pass to Griffin with 7:55 remaining in the final quarter. The two-point conversion made the score 45-15 in favor of Greenwood. Although the Hornets lost by a wide margin, there were several explosive plays made by the offense that often ended in penalties, turnovers and stalled drives.
“We’re young up front and it showed tonight,” McCray said. “They doubled (Errick) Simmons and we had opportunities on the backside to make plays but just missed some balls.”
The Hornets will have an open date for the week of September 20. They return to action September 27 against Murrah.
